Crazy Busy Weekend & Healthy Eating While Traveling

Not since my whirlwind trip to Missouri have I had such a busy few days. I hope your weekend was just what you wanted it to be. I started off with celebrating my OLDER brother’s 50th birthday. Okay. Okay. I only have one brother and he’s older than me, so I can call him my older brother, right? I guess one day I, too, will be 50, so I should be nice. It was a fun evening and I saw some people I haven’t seen in years!

Saturday morning I was up bright and early and headed 60 miles north to see my good friend and fellow blogger, Carrie from Carrie on Vegan. She was in town with her husband to visit family. Carrie is such an inspiration for me. Not only is she a wonderful person and a dedicated Nutritarian, she’s a cancer survivor. We spent the day toodling around the area. We found some great things at the Edmonds Farmer’s Market. I bought NO food there, but I did score a few pair of artisan earrings that I love! From there we zipped over to Capital Hill in Seattle, met up with another Nutritarian who was on her lunch break and then we hoofed it down the street a couple of blocks to Healeo, a great little spot for some uber yummy food. I had the spicy black bean bowl:

We parted ways after our delicious and filling meal and I caught up with a friend in Tacoma to walk the Color Run route that we are running this weekend. Cross your fingers for some good weather.

Sunday I headed back north to meet up with Carrie and her husband again for lunch at Whole Foods before we had to say our final goodbye. I just love being in the presence of those two. I’m hoping to make a visit to their place in the Land of Warm sometime midwinter when I just can’t take the cold and grey skies any longer. My lunch at Whole Foods was a GIANT salad:

I was excited to hear the Whole Foods carries a line of yummy foods in which Dr. Fuhrman was consulted for the creation. The salad dressing is his Sesame Ginger with no oil and no refined sugar. I think I must have chewed for two hours on that bowl of veggies!

Nutritarian Sisters

Sunday afternoon after saying goodbye, I zipped even further north to celebrate a friend’s birthday. It was fun. She’s a healthy eater too, so I was happy to be able to indulge a bit in some dessert. Oh, plus I got to play with my adorable God daughter while there. Can’t wait to see them again!

Eating while traveling:

So how do you eat while you’re traveling? Do you just let your healthy eating go out the window when you’re on vacation because it’s too hard to plan? Or do you look for the best available foods out there? Besides eating at the buffet at Whole Foods what can you do? On my recent trip to Missouri, I stopped at WalMart and bought things to make my TexMex Salad. Eating healthy is possible when away from home. When we travel we try to either rent a cabin/house or condo that is fully equipped with a kitchen. If that is not available, we get a hotel with a kitchenette. At a minimum a microwave and fridge, but a stovetop is a bonus.
But who likes to cook while you’re on vacation? Sometimes you just like to get out and be served, right? So look for places that can accommodate your special diet (which I don’t think is all that special anymore). Steakhouses are great because they always have side dishes that will work. Ask for them with no oil and no seasoning. Order a double salad with no dressing, cheese or croutons. You can either bring your own dressing or just squeeze a little lemon juice over the greens.

Saturday after my journey north then south, I was a little tuckered out when I got home and didn’t really feel like being creative in the kitchen so we decided to try a new pizza place near us. How can pizza be healthy, you say? Well, check this out:

No sauce and no cheese. It’s all veggies and a little pineapple. The crust was very thin and crispy. So besides the white flour used in the crust, I felt happy with my choice. The restaurant, however, was sooooo loud, I don’t think I’ll be going back. The concept was a good one, you walk through a line telling them what you want on your pie and then they make and cook it to order. If only they could figure out a way to chill out the ruckus a bit.

Wrap Up:

So that’s it. Next time you find yourself away from home, challenge yourself to eat the same way you do now. I think you’ll find that restaurants will accommodate you and you’ll be full of energy for sticking to your plan!